Chelsea beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to seal their Champions League quarter-finals and ease mounting pressure on head coach Graham Potter. Needing to overcome a 1–0 deficit from the first leg in Germany three weeks earlier, Chelsea made a bright start but had to wait until Raheem Sterling’s 43rd-minute strike to break the deadlock.
Kai Havertz converted a penalty in the second attempt in the 53rd minute to seal a 2–1 aggregate win. The spot kick was awarded after VAR official Poul Van Boekel sent referee Danny McKell to the monitors to review a handball by Marius Wolff. Havertz’s first effort hit the post, but VAR revealed encroachments in the box by several Dortmund players, and Havertz slotted home the replay.
Christian Pulisic made his first appearance for Chelsea since 5 January as a late substitute, and Chelsea secured a valuable victory that saw them reach the last eight of Europe’s premier club competition for the second consecutive season. Looks for
Swift response
Potter enjoys the best night since becoming Chelsea boss
Chelsea may have beaten Leeds United by a solitary unanswered goal last weekend, but Potter was still under significant pressure ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Borussia Dortmund.
The massive investment recently poured into the club by the ownership – around £600m all told – demands a better immediate return than the Blues have managed of late. An early Champions League exit would have given Potter’s critics credence to argue that the task may be too big for the 47-year-old to handle.
Potter was notably more animated in this match on the touchline, regularly trying to rally the crowd and reacting to the referee’s decisions with more enthusiasm than usual.
Perhaps the most telling moment came when Havertz tried to convert his 53rd-minute penalty on the second attempt. The potter sat on his seat and could not see. It may have been tough at times, but this surely has to be Potter’s best night in charge since succeeding Thomas Tuchel in September.
Next month’s Champions League quarter-finals would likely give Potter a solid finish, pointing to a continuation of the domestic struggle. But he will be hoping that back-to-back wins for the first time since October prove to be the long-awaited turning point.
Has Chelsea found her shooting boots?
The lack of goals has been Chelsea’s biggest problem under Potter. It threatened to be another extremely disappointing evening, as he created and then repeatedly rejected a series of chances, with Havertz hitting the post, or when the ball was flagged offside with a spectacular finish in the net. was to be picked up.
But this time Chelsea was rewarded for their persistence.
Raheem Sterling had put in a flamboyant first half but stuck to his task and fired the home side two minutes before the break. Havertz needed two attempts but converted his second spot kick after hitting the post due to the encroachment of several Dortmund players in the penalty area.
Remarkably, it was the first time since 27 December that Chelsea had scored more than once in a game. That’s exactly what they had to do to qualify, but encouraging performances from Joao Felix and Havertz in particular should help Chelsea overcome, at least in part, a psychological issue in front of the goal.
Dortmund needed more, relegated from Bellingham
Dortmund was already without injured key attacking players Karim Adeyemi and Youssef Moukoko, and goalkeeper Gregor Kobel when their preparations were disrupted by a late arrival at Stamford Bridge, which delayed kick-off by 10 minutes.
To make matters worse, Julian Brandt was forced to retire injured within the first five minutes, and so the task of maintaining their first-leg advantage became increasingly difficult by the minute.
On such occasions, teams need their big players to step up, and although Jude Bellingham is just 19 years old, he has captained the first team and is a key player in Dortmund’s attack. Unfortunately for BVB, it was not her best night.
Bellingham was not to blame for Dortmund’s exit, but equally the midfielder has been unable to impact games to the same extent, which has seen his proposed transfer fees skyrocket ahead of a possible summer move to the Premier League or LaLiga .
He missed a great chance to draw Dortmund level just before the hour mark as Sebastian Haller’s shot hit Ben Chilwell and fell 7 yards out. Remarkably, Bellingham kicked it wide.
An illustrious career surely awaits such a prodigiously talented player, but it was a night to forget.